Sarah is an experienced planner with twenty years’ experience working in the private sector in London. The majority of her career has been within planning consultancy, however she also spent six years working for a major developer, which provided invaluable insight into the commercial and construction aspects of development. She has a deep understanding of development management and planning policy, together with specialist experience in housing, urban regeneration, urban design and heritage planning.

Claire Day is a Fellow of both the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Claire has over 20 years’ experience in planning consultancy; she was the first female director at multi-disciplinary firm, Iceni before leaving to co-found her own, award-winning consultancy, Hybrid Planning and Development, in 2017. Claire’s experience encompasses mixed-use, retail, employment, leisure and heritage schemes across the UK. Claire is passionate about thoughtful placemaking that helps towns, cities and communities evolve. Equally committed to making planning as inclusive an industry as possible, Claire has been an RICS mentor and APC assessor for over a decade, supervising the next generation of planners and surveyors. 2023 marks Claire’s second year on the Building London Planning Awards judging panel, and she looks forward to visiting locations across the Capital to discover the most innovative and sustainable places to live, work and play.

Grace is a Principal Strategic Planner at the GLA. She has worked in local government for over 10 years with experience across development management, planning policy, and heritage. She has a particularly strong interest in estate regeneration and how effective strategic planning can deliver genuinely affordable, high quality homes for Londoners through developments which put residents at the heart of plans.

Mike is a chartered town planner and MBA qualified manager with over 40 years’ experience in local government, most of that in London with 14 years at service head level and above. He is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, formerly president of the Planning Officers Society and now chair of its Board. Mike works closely with government and across the sector to shape planning in England. In 2015 he left local government and set up his consultancy, Mike Kiely planning + regeneration, to specialise in assisting local authorities to perform better and be more effective.